Backers: Firefighter being treated unfairly

ROCKFORD — About four dozen people, led by Minister Bobby Shaw, the Rev. Chester Baker and the Rev. Earl Dotson Sr. and Ald. Linda McNeely, gathered outside Church of Christ, today to show their support for a city firefighter accused of falsifying time sheets and receiving overtime pay for hours he did not work....

ROCKFORD — About four dozen people gathered outside Church of Christ, 4141 W. State St., today to show their support for a city firefighter accused of falsifying time sheets and receiving overtime pay for hours he did not work.

Led by Minister Bobby Shaw, the Rev. Chester Baker and the Rev. Earl Dotson Sr. and Ald. Linda McNeely, the group spoke for about an hour, praising Rockford fire Lt. Brian K. Watkins as an upstanding city employee and family man who isn’t being treated fairly by the city or the media.

Watkins, an arson investigator and recruiting officer, is accused of using a Fire Department computer to forge documents and commit theft. Specific charges, filed in July, allege Watkins was paid more than $14,000 over the past 2½ years for work he did not do.

“I’ve known Brian Keith Watkins all his life,” Shaw said. “This is not the Keith we know. The Keith we know is an outstanding citizen of this community. He has not received due justice in this case. He has not been treated fairly. There has been little support by the city of a man who has made the Fire Department his life.”

Watkins has been on administrative leave for three months. The city’s Board of Fire and Police Commissioners voted Aug. 18 to continue to pay him while he is on leave.

Today, Watkins’ supporters said they fear the city will continue to go after his job while charges are pending.

Watkins pleaded not guilty Aug. 26 to the charges against him.

McNeely told the crowd that she and others have been meeting with city officials for weeks now on Watkins’ behalf to ensure that he is treated equally and fairly.

“Watkins is the highest-ranking black fireman in the city of Rockford,” Shaw said. “He’s held in high esteem by most people who know him, and yet he has been humiliated. He’s been disrespected. ... When those policemen were accused of shooting that young man, the mayor of Rockford and all of them stood out and defended those policemen. In Keith’s case, you know what we keep getting? 'We can’t do anything because it’s in litigation.' Only with Keith are they making these statements.”